posted on February 5, 2005 09:31:50 AM new
I just bid on an item and noticed the following message below the "confirm bid" box.
"You are agreeing to a contract -- You will enter into a legally binding contract to purchase the item from the seller if you're the winning bidder. You are responsible for reading the full item listing, including the seller's instructions and accepted payment methods. Seller assumes all responsibility for listing this item."
In the past, I thought I remember bids not being binding. If so, that seems to open a new can of worms if someone wanted to force a bidder to pay by court order, collection agencies, and credit reports.
posted on February 5, 2005 09:35:21 AM new
They've always said that. "Your bid is a binding contract"
You know what? After 10 years watching eBay, I've NEVER heard of a court enforcing an eBay transaction.
It's just a bunch of bull. The worst thing that can happen is eBay blocking your account or NARUing you.
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Replay Media - The best source for board games, card games and miniatures on the web! http://www.replaymedia.com
posted on February 5, 2005 09:41:54 AM new
New can of worms? It's been that way for a while.
We have to have some way to make them pay. It galls me to no end to have someone purchase a $500.00 dress, knocking a serious bidder out of the running and later write " I didn't mean to" or "I don't know how it happened" " I was just looking, I didn't mean to actually BUY it".
And YES, we have taken deadbeats to court, used collection agencies etc.
We run our online business like we run our actual store.
posted on February 5, 2005 10:52:27 AM new
funki- "And YES, we have taken deadbeats to court, used collection agencies etc.
We run our online business like we run our actual store."
How has that worked for you? Has it been successful? Just curious.
I remember clearly reading that bids on ebay were not binding a few years ago. It stated that they were contracts, but didn't mention "legally binding". The reason I remember is that a bidder told me it wasn't binding anyways, and he was obligated to pay. I looked it up and there was nothing binding at some point a few years ago.
Two ideas... 1) force payment using the same system as "Immediate Payment" required (used with BIN) for all bids. The bidder has a credit card registered with ebay already, ebay owns paypal... this shouldn't be difficult. Once they place a bid, ebay or paypal can do a preauthorization for the amount of the bid. If they win, the preauthorization becomes a charge. 2) Bidders are required to purchase a debit card or points to make bids on ebay. Once the bidder has placed a bid, the money or points are frozen until either the bids have exceeded the bidders bid, or they win the auction. It really isn't a very difficult system that would protect sellers against deadbeats. This would actually be a great system to use for newbies under 10. It really makes sense for a number of reasons, the most important being that ebay will get their fees for each and every auction that uses this system. They would't have to deal with FVF disputes, etc.
